In hydraulic circuits or devices it is often necessary to connect two tubes together. This is generally done by forming a socket at the end of a first tube, possibly cutting the tube at said end to adjust its length to the desired value, and inserting the end of the second tube into this socket-deformed end after it has been cut to the desired length. The two tubes are then joined together by braze welding.
An operation of this type is generally carried out during the construction of heat exchangers comprising a finned pack traversed by tubes which must be of constant predetermined length across the outside of the finned pack. A free end of these tubes is subjected to the aforestated deformation and cutting operations in order to associate a curved interconnection element with the ends of two adjacent tubes and hence give continuity to the heat exchanger circuit.
The aforesaid deformation and cutting operations are currently carried out in two different successive operative stages with different dedicated tools. In the case of a heat exchanger with a plurality of tubes, for example two hundred and fifty, the fact of having to carry out the said operations in two different stages with different tools results in considerable production time and cost.